I didn’t want to drag him out, but I would if I had to.
His eyes glinted in the red light as he turned his head toward me. He threw something down between us, and it clattered noisily on the concrete.
The piece of glass he’d cut me with.
Was he…submitting? Surrendering? Was this his way of asking for help?
I snatched the glass before he could change his mind and flung it behind me out into the storage room. I’d find it later.
I let go of his ankle and held my hand out to him, not knowing if he’d bite it or hold it.
To my surprise, he set his shaking hand in mine. It was wet with sweat or blood, and I clasped it gently. Warmth bloomed in my chest, something tender and powerful that spread through my veins.
I carefully tugged him toward me. “Come on.”
He made a strangled, pained sound in the back of his throat, then crawled with me as I backed out of the tiny space, fingers clinging to mine.
When we were out and on our feet, he trembled violently, so unsteady that when he swayed, I caught him before he hit the ground.
He was crying, and now his face held nothing but anguish, those pretty eyes staring into mine, like he was trying to communicate something.
He wasn’t struggling anymore, wasn’t thrashing around, just trembling as I held him.
“What’s happening to you?” I whispered, deeply unsettled and aching in places I’d never felt before. “What do you need right now?” My arm was throbbing, still bleeding, but it wasn’t a mortal wound. That could wait.
He didn’t answer me, just kept his eyes locked on mine as more tears spilled from the corners. He’d gone mostly quiet, like the worst of it had passed, like it had sapped all his energy.
I walked us out of the storage room and brought him back to the bedroom.
“Alright, that’s okay. You don’t need to tell me anything. I’m going to put you on the bed, okay? So you’re comfortable.” I wasn’t expecting him to answer, and he didn’t—not unless those infrequent noises of exertion and discomfort were some kind of answer—so I just walked to the bed and gently laid him on top of the covers. When I started to lean back, something stopped me.
I looked down and saw his small fist clenched around the hem of my shirt, clinging to it so hard his knuckles were white.
I covered his hand with mine, trying to reassure him, to chase away even just the smallest amount of his hurt. “I’m only going to get some water and a cloth, I have to look at your shoulder.”
“Don’t…” He squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced.
Don’t what? Don’t go? Don’t leave him there? Don’t look at his shoulder?
I clasped his hand in both of mine. “I’ll only be gone for a minute. I promise.”
His eyes were shining when he opened them, but he gave me the barest of nods. I gently rested his hand on his stomach, not wanting to leave him at all. But he’d reopened his wound and that needed to be tended to immediately.
I quickly dashed from the room and down the hall to get what I needed. When I returned to the room, he was still lying on the bed right where I’d left him. I hadn’t realized I’d been so tense until my muscles relaxed and I let out a heavy breath of relief.
I set all the things down next to him, near his hip. “I’m gonna lift your shirt to look at the wound. Okay?”
He grunted. He’d closed his eyes and turned his head away, but he was still conscious, still here with me.
I slowly drew his shirt up, pulling it off his arm so I could get the material high enough to see the wound.
There wasn’t a lot of blood, which was good, but the sight of it still made my stomach turn. I got the little medical scissors from the kit and very carefully cut into the gauze until I could peel it away from him.
I dipped the cloth in water and gently dabbed around the edges until the fresh blood was cleared away.
The scabbing had broken open, just a small, thin crack beneath the bright crimson of fresh blood. His skin was flushed, his chest moving rapidly with his shallow breaths.
The sound of his voice, so faint, made me pause. My gaze flew to his face, which was turned away, his eyes still closed. I wasn’t sure if he’d really spoken at all or if I’d just imagined it.
